Monday, May 10, 2010

Ads on Underground

This morning I noticed this ad on the underground.

An ad like this could be taken one of two ways.

It could mean that you're waiting for a lottery ticket and hoping that maybe you'll be able to make it big as an artist because artists that make it big seem to have an excess of funds.

In this regard I'm not bothered by the ad. Reality check: sitting around wishing and hoping and doing silly art for the sake of a pay cheque isn't going to happen.

But look at it another way and it's sad. It's like the idea of living your dream is 'foolish' and won't amount to anything.

One morning I was watching BBC and they were interviewing one of the radio hosts about the topic of the show she'd be hosting later in the day. She looked at the camera and said, "Do you want your children to be successful or happy? we're going to talk about encouraging them to do well in academics vs. doing well in arts and crafts and things."

I find this mentality all over the place; the idea that success equals money and money equals a desk job.

I once read a blog entry about what success means and what it means to an artist. How do you measure your success?

The blog entry was listed under the suitably titled 'Deep Thought Thursday' and I chose to put a lot of thought into it. When I chose to start identifying as an artist it was at a time when my life was a blank slate. A number of catalysts had lead me to shift my perspective and start fresh. Fourtunately I was raised to know that success and happiness go hand in hand. Happiness is loving the life you're leading and to do that you must be leading the life you're meant to. We are each of us responsible for making that happen. No one is going to come along and give us the winning lottery ticket or buy our money making scheme.

It's not about pinning a sock onto canvas. It's about exploring your talent, knowing you will never learn it all but striving to learn as much as you can every day. It's about seeking growth and embracing change.

I could say reality is overrated but it's not that. I think reality is ill-defined. The reality of the world is that you have one life to live and it's not actually that long. So if you are a famous artist, go be a famous artist. And if you're a business guru go be a business guru. And as you do what you are, you will be successful and you will be happy. Even when things are miserable, you can find happiness in knowing you're loving the life you live because you're living the live you choose.

1 comment:

  1. The biggest problem that I have with the ad is the idea that 'modern art', or in fact, 'art' at all, is that easy. Sure. Found materials, repurposed trash, whatever, can be an element of a work, but the very different reality of the situation is that just nailing a sock to a canvas will not make you a famous artist... and it's offensive to reduce the creative process of an artist to the idea of just mindlessly riffling through trash and tacking things up onto canvas on a whim.

    Something makes me feel like the ad agent on this one was freaking bitter.

    ReplyDelete

Express yourself here
criticize constructively
I am receptive